Hiking/Trekking

Bryce National Park

Posted by pdittman on November 25th, 2017 in '17 - Zion/Bryce, US

A visit to Bryce was not part of our original itinerary, but we didn’t have firm hike plans for our third day at Zion. Spurred by a conversation with some fellow hikers, and a (very little) bit of research we opted for a little spontaneity – it was only about 90 miles from Zion.

We’d settled on the Fairyland trail – listed as strenuous, about 8 miles, and a loop – sounded like just the thing. As usual, we were off early – not many other folks out, so the drive was easy. The trailhead was most easily accessible from the north, entering through Bryce Canyon City – interestingly, a city (if you can call it that) that established in 2007. Mainly tourist stops, a motel, gas station, etc. – but tourism is big business. Fairyland Rd, leading to the trailhead, was just south of the ‘city’. Interestingly, we didn’t pass through any sort of Park entrance to get there.

On reaching the trailhead, and gearing up, we were immediately struck by the incredible beauty that was Bryce Canyon. Truly, never seen anything like it. The view from the trailhead was stunning -iImmediately sky-rocketing this to one of our top-3 (or 5) hikes ever, rivaling such jems as Faulhorn in Switzerland, Paintbrush Divide in the Tetons, Clouds Rest in Yosemite, Gray Glacier in Patagonia, and even Observation Point from a few days beforehand – the hoodoos were just amazing. Everywhere you looked, a different view – and even the same hoodoo viewed from a different angle could create an entirely different perspective.

Rather than blather on about the hike – the weather (perfect temperature), the crowds (less than a dozen people on the trail), or the footing (easy), here, we’ll just close out this post with a photo gallery – which certainly doesn’t do justice to beauty and majesty of the park.

Read about other hikes/places on our trip through Zion, Bryce, Buckskin Gulch, and Sedona,

Wide open trail, passing a bluff through some tall pines

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Zion, Bryce, and Sedona ’17

Winter has typically been the time we dream about far away places, planning our late-summer/early fall adventures to new places with trails, refugios, berghaus‘, and outdoor time. This past winter, however, was one filled with family affairs – my Dad’s passing, closing his estate, selling the family house – it didn’t really leave much time to think about those far away places. So it wasn’t until April, as those affairs settled, that we cracked open a map (or more correctly,

Zion National Park

As mentioned, visiting Zion and the southwest was something of a spontaneous thing – with not much preliminary research – driven more by a desire to get away and a continuation of our efforts to visit some of the National Parks. The November timing meant somewhere in the south. Zion fit the bill – sort of most of the Grand Canyon, without all the Canyon stuff… We had 3 days of hiking planned for Zion. Reading most internet sites, the

Buckskin Gulch and a Slot Canyon

This day was something of a ‘transitional’ day in our Zion/Sedona itinerary. We were traveling southward from Zion, but a single drive through to Sedona would have been nearly a full day driving – nearly 300 miles. Sitting in a car all day didn’t sound appealing – plus, there were trails along the way – so we’d decided on a day-hike and a stop-over in Page, AZ – roughly the halfway point. Between Zion and Page are a series of

Sedona

When planning our journeys/vacations, we tend towards a combination of highly active/outdoorsy and back-to-civilization with some relaxation time – the Jungfrau and Paris, Torres del Paine and Buenos Aires, Cinque Terre and Florence. Sedona was our ‘civilization’ icing on the Zion/Bryce cake. On a recommendation from a friend, we’d booked into the Sky Ranch Lodge – and OMG, what a beautiful spot. Perched on the western edge of the Airport Mesa, it’s a beautiful grouping of attached cottages, ours with